The Lust That Hides The Love

Seventy-Five-Warm Tidings

(A/N) This chapter is from multiple POVs because I can do whatever I want

Lapis's POV

The floor of the hallway was cool against my bare feet as I made my way into my mother's office.

"Mom?" I called as I stood in the door. The blinds were drawn and the lights were off.

"What? Oh." There was a click as she turned on the small desk lamp beside her. "Sorry, I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize how long it'd been. What time is it?"

"Six o'clock." She nodded.

"What do you need?"

"I just wanted to confirm with you that I'm leaving for vacation with Mangano after school on Thursday." She rested her head in her hands and thought for a minute.

"And you won't even be coming back to get your things?" I shook my head.

"No. Red is going to pick me up in the morning to help me take my suitcase in without making anyone late." She furrowed her brow.

"There's something about this boyfriend of yours that I don't quite trust. Promise me you're making good decisions?" I nodded.

"I promise."

"Good. Go wake up your sister."

Opal's POV

"Come on, Pearl, are you sure you don't want to come see Sugilite? It could be fun!" Pearl turned up her nose.

"Absolutely not. That house is the last place I want to be. Especially after what happened the last time I was there." I sighed.

"Okay, fine. But I'm telling you that she said her Dad's changed. And if Sugi believes it, I believe it. I'll see you later. Love you!"

"You too." I smiled as I got in my car. The sun was bright and I was going to my best friend's house.

I caught myself after I thought best friend. Shouldn't I have been saying girlfriend? Or even just 'Sugilite's house'? I sighed. Not much was actually different between us being friends and us dating. Sure, we were kissing a considerably higher amount, but other than that it was pretty much the same actions, thoughts, and feelings. But if I loved Sugilite, should it have mattered?

I chewed my cheek as the thoughts ate me alive while I drove. By the time I got there, I decided that the best course of action would be to shove the feelings deep down where they'd never get to bother me again.

"Opal!" Sugilite was smiling and sitting on the front steps when I pulled up. Her hair was pulled back in a big bun and every window in the house was open.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"Taking a break. Getting some sun." She stood up and gave me a big hug and a kiss.

"Cleaning today I take it?" She nodded.

"Isn't it great? There was an issue with our washer and it wasn't working, so yesterday I looked some stuff up online and fixed it myself! Now, I'm doin' the biggest load of laundry I ever have!" I laughed.

"You're cute when you get excited over domestics. Need help folding?" She grinned even brighter.

"You know it!"

When we went inside, her dad was there. The house looked brighter and cleaner than it ever had, and he was vacuuming the living room. He looked cleaner than he ever had too. He was clean-shaven and it looked like his clothes had just recently been washed.

"Hey, Dad!" Sugi called. He turned off the vacuum and looked over at us. "Opal's here."

"Hi, Opal." We looked at each other uncomfortably. I'd known him for most of my life, but I'd never seen him this well put together.

"Hi." Sugi took my hand and led me to Amethyst's room.

"I've been doing a lot of cleaning in here. How does it look?" It looked like a completely different room. 

"It looks great! I've never seen it this clean." SUgilite's smile looked about ready to jump off of her face.

"I'm gonna surprise her when she comes to stay for the summer. Can you help me by folding her clothes? I'll be in my room folding mine." I nodded.

"Of course!" We got right to work, laughing and talking across the hall. Once her dad had finished vacuuming she sent him to his room to fold his clothes, and she turned on the stereo in the living room.

"I completely forgot you guys had one of those!" I commented when she came back.

"So did I!" The work went much faster once we had the accompaniment of the stereo-set to a station the played jazz and funk. Once I had all of Amethyst's clothes folded, I got to work putting them away. Clothes that I knew she'd worn a lot-and clothes I knew she would want to wear more now that summer was approaching- went into the dresser, and the rest that couldn't fit were sent to the closet.

"So how long do you think the house will stay clean like this for?" I asked once we'd finished with the clothes. We stood in the kitchen with a couple of cans of soda.

"At least until I go back to school. My plan for the summer is to whip them both into shape."

"You want Amethyst to be able to come back here." She nodded.

"Obviously. Even though she's closer to me where she is, it's better for her here. I don't trust my mom and Eric. And even though Amethyst only has two years left of school, she's better off at Crystal Prep. She's smart. A little lazy when it comes to school work, but smart all the same. She deserves to go to a school that'll let her shine."

"And she's got more friends."

"Exactly! Peri, Pearl, everyone. And I want my dad to have a reason to stay sober." Her dad, who had been out mowing the lawn, came inside.

"I have to go buy some more gas for the mower. I checked the shed and it looks like we're out. Do you want me to pick up a pizza while I'm out? Antonio's?" Sugilite smiled.

"That sounds great, Dad. I'll call it in." He smiled at her.

"Te quiero."

"Yo tambien." He went back outside, and Sugilite called for the pizza. After she finished I asked her,

"Was it hard?"

"To clean the house? God yes. I swear to God he's got receipts from the nineties in here." I giggled.

"No, I meant coming back here. Forgiving him for everything."

"Oh!" She smiled as he came back inside. "It was nowhere near as hard as I thought."

(A/N) Before anyone gets the wrong idea here let me say this:

Her dad is a flawed individual. 'Forgiving' him is not Sugilite forgiving his actions, but is instead her deciding that she's ready to work on repairing their relationship and acknowledging the issues.